February 22, 2010 COMAP Mathematical Contest in Modeling

Two teams of three Albion students competed in the COMAP Mathematical Contest in Modeling. Albion College mathematics, physics, and economics students completed their work in 2010 Mathematical Contest in Modeling (MCM) sponsored the Consortium for Mathematics and its Applications. On the evening of Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 8pm, the Albion College mathematical modeling team of Chen Chen ('11), Yang Chen ('11), and Chrisopher Creighton ('11) & Robby Clark ('12), Sining Gu ('13), and Mingjia Yang ('13) were presented with the choice of solving two different, yet thought-provoking real-life problems in mathematical modeling. Over the course of the next ninety-six hours, the team independently selected, sweated, solved, and wrote up a paper presenting each of their team's solution to the problem they chose. The solution was completed at 8pm on Monday, February 22, 2010 and then directly emailed to COMAP for judging. Professor Darren Mason organized the participation of the Albion students in this year's MCM. Final results of this highly competitive international contest will be available by April, 2010. For more information about the preparation needed to compete in this competition, please see this Albion College News Article.

Albion's team comprised of seniors Robbie Sessions and Mike Smar participated in the 21st Annual Denison Spring Programming Contest held at Denison University in Granville, Ohio. This year, 11 teams from 7 schools (Denison, Albion, Baldwin-Wallace, Oberlin, Muskingum, Ohio Wesleyan, and U of Akron) competed in this 4-hour contest. Albion's team placed 7th, and only two teams solved more problems then Albion. All teams placing above Albion's team had four members, resulting in Albion solving more problems per team member than any other team. Professor David Reimann coordinated Albion's participation in the contest and traveled with the students to Denison University. Albion has regularly competed in the contest since 1997. Final standings for all teams are available at the contest site.

March 23, 2010 - Kappa Mu Epsilon Announces New Members

The Albion Chapter (Michigan Alpha) of Kappa Mu Epsilon, the national mathematics honor society, is pleased to announce its new members for 2010. New members are Ben Copeland, Rachel Kain, and Robbie Sessions. KME members must complete at least three semesters of college and rank in the top 35% of their class; complete three college math courses, including at least one semester of calculus; and attain an average grade of 3.0 or better in all mathematics classes. Albion's chapter of KME was founded in 1937. Mark Bollman serves as corresponding secretary and advisor to the Albion chapter. Further information about the national organization is available at kappamuepsilon.org. Congratulations to the new KME members!

March 30, 2010 - Putnam Exam Results Announced

The results of the Putnam Mathematical Competition, held in December 2009, have arrived. Leading the Albion entries was Rachel Kamischke, with a score of 10, who was followed closely by Mingjia Yang with 9. Chen Chen completed Albion's team scoring with 1 point. The total team score of 20 is the highest achieved at Albion in recent years. Also participating for Albion were Eric Richardson and Kathryn Wagner. Congratulations to all team members!